Former Colombian president lauds Guyana’s ‘visionary, coherent’ LCDS 2030

Former President of Colombia, Ivan Duque Márquez, has joined the host of international stakeholders in lauding Guyana’s transformational Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030.

In his speech at Guyana’s second International Energy Conference and Expo at the Marriott Hotel on Tuesday, Marquez praised the great vision, work, and coherent nature of the policy.

He commended President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, for updating the carefully crafted policy, which started with former President and current Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, noting that the policy is in alignment with the realities of a committed country towards creating environmental sustainability and energy security.

He also drew attention to the possibilities in store for Guyana’s oil wealth.

“Guyana has the possibility today to utilise the richness of the underground to close the social divide, and to eradicate poverty all around,” he said.

The former head of state noted that Guyana has many economic prospects in the natural resources sector as a whole, which can be harnessed to add a major boost to the country’s development.

“Guyana has the condition of being a carbon-neutral, or even a carbon-negative country. It has one of the lowest deforestation levels in the world. But that richness has to be used intelligently” the former president said.

Duque Márquez added that,” There has to be a plan for an economic transition that allows this country to become a very important player in food security, energy security, science and technology in the Caribbean, and the possibility of being a hub for entrepreneurship”.

He said development of this kind requires strong collaboration between the private sector and government in the relevant industries.

The former president expressed his anticipation for the transformation of the oil and gas industry in Guyana, and the development that will come from harnessing the revenue thereof.

He further commended the government for its approach thus far in exploring possibilities to further Guyana’s development.

“In times where the world is seeing so much polarisation about the way we manage energy… today we can say that in the case of Guyana, there is no ying-yang, there is no contradiction. The country is doing what it has to do in terms of exploring resources that are needed to reduce poverty, and generate social and economic transformation while being at the same time a conservation superpower,” Duque expressed.

H.E. Iván Duque Márquez was the first speaker at the Conference and Expo, which is taking place from February 14 to 17.

The conference provides an opportunity for major industry leaders, business executives, senior government officials and other stakeholders to discuss development opportunities for Guyana and its partners, and to address pertinent issues in the growing energy industry.